DREAMS of a CLOUD
Peruse the many random ramblings of a writer-in-training as I build stories and develop my craft.
30 December 2022
The tanuki handed the swordt over, and Lord Isshin inspected every inch of the blade. “Did you know I had a student once, who wanted to learn the sword?”
Hanako cocked her head. Where had that come form? The tanuki meanwhile just shook his head.
“He was a young man. A human, actually, of all things. He had a purity I’d never seen before or since; he was devoted to the sword, but he used it only to protect what was important to him. He had no love for the shedding of blood.” He looked first at Hanako, and then the tanuki. “His name was Kojima.”
Hanako’s eyes widened, and the tanuki’s face turned white as a sheet. With the barest hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, Lord Isshin asked, “Do you still wish to claim this sword belongs to your family?”
This whole segment of Hanako’s story has been interesting to write. I hope Isshin’s thoughts and intentions when he said what he did are clear. I think so, but I’m also a bit too close to the story to have a clear picture. There’s one more short-ish section to go tomorrow, and the Ashina village arc will be done for the time being. I plan on shelving Hanako for most of January, actually, to focus on other things, like the Majesty storyline.
Hanako almost attacked him but she managed to restrain that impulse at the last moment. “Who are you?”
The tengu raised an eyebrow, and behind Hanako, the tanuki started trembling. He hissed, “That’s Ashina Isshin, lord of this village!”
Hanako’s face flushed and she dropped to one knee. “I, I’m sorry! I’m new in town, and didn’t know who you are, and–”
“It’s quite alright.” He waved it away, then stared at the tanuki. “And what is happening here?”
“Er, well, this girl seems to think this sword belongs to her, when it’s been in my family for years.”
Once more the tengu raised an eyebrow and looked at Hanako. “And what do you say?”
She took a deep breath. “Yesterday, when I checked in, that sword wasn’t there. Sometime last night, even though I’d locked the door, my sword was stolen from me. When I got downstairs, I saw it there.”
The tengu nodded. “Was this sword important to you?”
“Well, yeah. It was my master’s. He passed it to me when he died.”
“And who was your master?”
Hanako had to think for a moment. “Kojima. His name was Kojima.”
“I see.” He extended a hand to the tanuki. “May I see the sword?”
The tanuki handed it over, and Lord Isshin inspected every inch of the blade. “Did you know I had a student once, who wanted to learn the sword?”
Hanako cocked her head. Where had that come form? The tanuki meanwhile just shook his head.
“He was a young man. A human, actually, of all things. He had a purity I’d never seen before or since; he was devoted to the sword, but he used it only to protect what was important to him. He had no love for the shedding of blood.” He looked first at Hanako, and then the tanuki. “His name was Kojima.”
Hanako’s eyes widened, and the tanuki’s face turned white as a sheet. With the barest hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, Lord Isshin asked, “Do you still wish to claim this sword belongs to your family?”
The tanuki shook his head, and Isshin handed Hanako the sword. Hanako bowed deeply. “Thank you very much!”
Once again, Isshin just waved it off. “There is no need for that. Besides, I did it more for his sake than yours.”
The tanuki looked confused. “Mine?”
“Indeed. She is an oni, after all; she doesn’t need a sword to wreck destruction. Based on the power I felt, were I only a few seconds later, you would no longer have an inn, assuming you’d even survived.”
With wide eyes, the tanuki looked from Isshin to Hanako and back again. Then, after a moment, he fainted and fell back to the floor.
Hanako hugged the sord tight to her chest. “Once again, thank you, sir.”
“Think nothing of it.” Isshin turned to leave, then paused. “You are certainly welcome to stay in this village as long as you like. However… I doubt you will find a home here.”
After the relief from getting her sword back, it felt like someone had driven a spike into Hanako’s heart. By the time she’d recovered enough to ask what he meant, though, Lord Isshin had already left.
The next few weeks were rough. The tanuki refused to let Hanako pay for anything, and did everything he could to make her stay comfortable. In some ways, that was a lifesaver; Hanako didn’t have a lot of money, and she struggled to find work in the village. But it left a bad taste in her mouth; it reminded her too much of the fear the one merchant had, when during a guard job she’d been outed as an oni and he’d thrown her a whole sack of gold, in the hopes she’d leave them alone.
As for the rest of the village… A few had heard about the incident at the Lucky Tanuki, and avoided her out of fear. Most, however, seemed indifferent. They rarely ever explicitly excluded her, but none of them did anything to include her, either. And no one seemed willing to give a job to a swordswoman who smelled human. After all, the town was peaceful, and didn’t need warriors. And there were plenty of other oni around for physical labor.
The clincher, though, came one day while she was wandering the streets. A group of children, including a small nure-onna, a rokurokubi, and maybe 3-4 oni, started jeering at her. This wasn’t the first time, and they were just kids, so hanako fully intended to ignore them like usual.
This time, though, one of them grew brave and threw a water balloon at her. On instinct alone, she spun around and caught it, without letting it burst.
The kids all stared at her, mouths open, and Hanako couldn’t help but grin.
Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)
27 December 2022
Hanako’s rage flared awake, but she kept a lid on it, and even managed to make a convincing smile as she approached the tanuki. “Hey, hey. Owner-san. Where did you get that sword?”
When the tanuki replied, he seemed utterly at ease, as if that wasn’t clearly the sword Hanako had brought in just the evening before. “Oh, that? Old family heirloom. My grandfather used it in battle a hundred years ago.”
My biggest concern with this scene (both this part and the ones surrounding it) is my depiction of the tanuki. As I understand it, they’re pranksters, and rarely if ever actively malicious. Not that the guy here is, but he doesn’t give off the vibe of toying with or playing with Hanako that a natural prankster would have… One of the options I’m considering is that he was trying to protect Ashina from this human-affiliated person by removing her weapon, but in that case his approach still seems a bit off here, and there’d be some major issues in the next section. I’ll want to think on that some more.
…breakfast. She stopped in her tracks, though, the moment she saw what was hanging above the front desk.
Hanako’s rage flared awake, but she kept a lid on it, and even managed to make a convincing smile as she approached the tanuki. “Hey, hey. Owner-san. Where did you get that sword?”
When the tanuki replied, he seemed utterly at ease, as if that wasn’t clearly the sword Hanako had brought in just the evening before. “Oh, that? Old family heirloom. My grandfather used it in battle a hundred years ago.”
The beast in Hanako’s chest roared, but she managed to keep her anger out of her face. She leaned in and rested an elbow on the desk. “Really? Because it looks a lot like my sword, before it was stolen sometime last night. Even though my room was locked.”
“I’m sorry to hear you were robbed,” the tanuki said. “Wish there was something I could do to help, but we have a very strict policy. We are not liable for any theft or lost possessions during your stay with us.”
The edge of the table crunched in Hanako’s grip, but otherwise she maintained her calm. “Hey, Owner-san. That sword wasn’t there yesterday. If it’s a family heirloom, why would that be?”
The tanuki shrugged. “Why would an oni have human money? Or use a sword instead of a kanabo. When you reek of human like you do, that’s pretty suspicious.”
What? “You don’t believe I’m an oni? Do you need to touch my horn or something?”
“I’m just saying. Even this conversation isn’t a very oni-ish way to handle things.”
The anger that’d been building since Hanako had arrived in Ashina started to break free. So she wasn’t “oni” enough for him? He wanted to see the monstrous side of her? Fine. She could show him what it really meant to anger an oni.
The tanuki’s face paled. Hanako wasn’t sure at first if she’d already started leaking pressure, when the tanuki bowed to someone behind her and she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She spun around to find a tengu, seven and a half feet tall and rail thin.
Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)
26 December 2022
When she arrived, she found a warm, inviting inn with an image of a dancing tanuki hanging from the sign post. Inside, she found a rotund, cheerful tanuki behind the counter, and off to the right a handful of other customers milling around the dining area. Among them was a kappa with graying hair, sitting by himself in the corner, sipping tea.
The tanuki gave her a big wide smile. “Welcome, welcome! What can we do for you today?”
Pretty simple section today, but setting things up for how much she will feel out of place later.
Honestly, I’m a bit worried about how I portrayed Nobuhito. I want him to seem odd, but not stand-offish. I also want to make it clear that he’s a bit of an outcast in Ashina society even if it doesn’t bother him much.
When she arrived, she found a warm, inviting inn with an image of a dancing tanuki hanging from the sign post. Inside, she found a rotund, cheerful tanuki behind the counter, and off to the right a handful of other customers milling around the dining area. Among them was a kappa with graying hair, sitting by himself in the corner, sipping tea.
The tanuki gave her a big wide smile. “Welcome, welcome! What can we do for you today?”
“Um, yeah.” Hanako shuffled her feet. “I’m going to need a room for a few days. And I heard there’s someone here who can trade yen for zenni?”
The tanuki’s eyes widened for half a second, but he kept his smile and he gestured to the kappa Hanako had seen earlier. “Nobuhito should be able to help you out. He’s a bit of an odd one; a bit too fascinated with the humans. But he should be able to help you out.”
Hanako thanked him and headed toward the kappa. As soon as she walked into the main dining area, everyone stopped and stared at her, their eyes flickering from her horn to her clothes to her sword. She did her best to ignore all that, though, and sat down in front of the kappa. “Are you Nabuhito?”
The kappa slowly looked up and blinked at her. “Why do you want to know?”
She pulled her purse onto the table and pulled out a few coins. “I… don’t have the right money for here, I guess. I’ve only ever worked with yen, ab the people here only accept ‘zenni’. Could you help me out?”
Nobuhito took one of the coins and examined it closely. He took it in his beak and bit on it, and in wonder he said, “These are real!”
“Of course they’re real.” Hanako’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Why wouldn’t they be?”
The kappa gave Hanako a long, appraising look. “Why did you come to Ashina?”
The question surprised Hanako. “Well, I mean, this is a village for yokai, right? I wanted to be somewhere I belonged, a place to call home.”
Nobuhito tapped the coin on the table. “But you can earn human money. You found a way to live among them, Unless you stole or killed for it?”
Anger flashed in Hanako’s eyes, before she brought it back under control. “I’d never do that.” She rested a hand on her sword. “I was lucky enough to put my master’s skills to use protecting people. But… well, they never really accepted me.” She smiled sadly, then forced herself to cheer up. “But hey, I’m around a bunch of other oni and yokai now, right?”
“Hmm.” The kappa stared at her a while longer, then pulled her purse over and counted the contents. “I’ll give you five fifty for all this.”
Hanako hesitated. Was that a fair deal? She realized she didn’t know enough about the value of zenni to be able to tell. Still, kappa were widely regarded as honest and honorable, so she nodded.
The kappa handed her a different type of coin, and she got up and paid for a room for the next week. She considered going out and exploring the town, but the day’s events had been surprisingly draining, so she locked the door and went straight to bed.
The next morning, when Hanako woke up, her sword was missing. She practically tore the room apart looking for it. The door was still locked, as was the window, so how would anyone have gotten in?
Finally, despondent, she trudged down the stairs to breakfast.
Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)